Device for assembling brooms into bundles.



' PATENTED MAR. 28, 1905.

A. P. LONGDON. DEVIOB'FOR ASSEMBLING BROOMS INTO BUNDL APPLIGATIONEILEIJ JULY 13, 1904.

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UNITED STATES Patented March 28, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

DEVICE FOR ASSEMBLING BROOIVIS INTO BUNDLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 786,228, dated March28, 1905.

Application filed July 13,

To m7] whom it vim/y concern:

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER POWER LONGDON, a citizen of the UnitedStates of America, residing at Atlanta, in the county of Fulton andState of Georgia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inDevices for Assembling Brooms into Bundles, of which the following is aspecification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to certain newand useful improvements in devicesfor assembling brooms into bundles, and contemplates the provision of adevice which shall save labor and time in the above operation and onewhich shall at the same time be strong, durable, and capable of beingused in connection with any size of broom-head by an adjustment ofcertain elements of the device, the said elements and the particularmanner of adjusting the same with respect to the various sizes ofbroom-heads being more fully described hereinafter.

To this end the invention consists in the novel construction andarrangement of parts to be more fully described and claimed, ref erencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of thisspecification, like numerals indicating like parts throughout theseveral views, and in which Figure l is a perspective view showing thedevice ready for use. Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view on the line 22 of Fig. 1, showing in detail the means for adjusting the distancebetween the needles to accommodate the relative sizes of broom-heads tobe bundled together; and Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view on theline 3 3 of Fig. 1, showing the manner of mounting the needles upon thebase of the device. Fig. 4 is a reduced central vertical section of thedevice with the needles removed, showing in detail the relativearrangement and contour of the recesses in which the said needles aremounted. Fig. 5 isa detailed perspective view, partly broken away,showing the form of needle employed with a base of the contour of thefrustum of a pyramid.

1904. Serial No. 216,402.

In the accompanying drawings, 1 indicates a suitable base, having aplate 2 removably secured thereon, preferably by screws. Needles 3 and4, preferably bayonetshaped, as illustrated, are mounted at a distancefrom each other upon the plate 2, each needle having a base 5 of thecontour of the frustum of a pyramid seated in a recess 5 ofcorresponding contour in the plate 2. As shown in the drawings, only twoneedles are employed; but this number may be varied if it is desired tohave several hands bundling the brooms at one time, in which case thenumber of needles will correspond to the number of brooms to be bundled.The form of the base carried by each needle is another feature in whichI do not wish to limit myself to the construction illustrated, which isthe preferred method of mounting the needles upon the plate 2.. Therecess 5, within which the needle 4 is seated, is of somewhat greaterwidth than the base 5 of the said needle, so as to permit of a lateraladjustment thereof, this being effected by a plate 6, carried thereby orintegral therewith, as the case may be, either construction beingequally effective, the said plate 6 carrying a vertical screw-threadedstud 7. The plate6 slides in a recess 6 in the plate 2 between guides 8and 9, arranged on each side thereof, and is locked in any desiredposition by a thumb-nut 10, mounted upon the threaded stud 11 of thesaid plate 6. Each needle is provided with the usual eye ll, and throughthese eyes the twine 12 is fed, being first passed through an eye-screw13, from thence through the eyes of the needles 11, from thence throughan eye-screw 1A, and the end is secured to a screw-hook 15. Theeye-screws l3 and 14c merely serve as guides, and their arrangement andnumber are important and are wholly at the option of the operator.

In practical use after the twine 12 has been passed through theneedle-eyes 11 in the manner described and has had its end secured tothe screw-hook 15 the brooms are ready to be bundled in the followingmanner: A single broom is pressed down upon the base 1, so as l to bepierced by the needles 3 and i and to have the twine l1 and 12 drawntherethrougl'i. The same operation is repeated until the pile consistsof the number of brooms desired to be packed in each bundle forshipmentsay a dozen. Then the operator places his knee or hands upon thepile of brooms thus assembled and presses them tightly together, at thesame time cutting the twine 12 adjacent the eye 11 in each needle 3 and4 and tying together the ends thus secured. The portion of twineremaining between the needle 3 and the screwhook 15 is of suflicientlength to be tied tightly around the handle of the broom, so that thereis no waste. When this last step has been performed, the operation iscompleted, and the brooms thus assembled in a bundle are lifted off theneedles and are ready for shipment. When it is desired to adjust thedistance between the needles to accommodate the relative sizes of broomsto be bundled, the thumb-nut 10 is loosened and the plate 6 withdrawnthe desired distance,and with it the base 5, carrying the needle l. Thesaid thum b-n ut 10 is then tightened, and the plate 6 and necdle 4 arelocked or set in position.

It will be readily apparent that in assembling the parts of the devicetogether the needles 3 and 4 will first be secured in the plate 2, beinginserted through the recesses from the under side of the said plateuntil the bases 5 are stopped by the sides of the recesses therefor inthe plate 2. Then the plate 2 is secured in position upon the base 1,and when it is desired to remove the needles to replace them with newones or needles of a different size it is only necessary to remove theplate 2 from the base 1. The peculiar shape of the base 5 prevents theneedles from turning or becoming loose in the plate 52. By having theneedles bayonet-shaped, as shown, they enter more readily between thestraws or corns.

It is obvious that various minor changes may be made in the arrangement,number, and construction of separate elements comprising my inventionwithout departing from the general spirit and scope thereof as definedin the following claims.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A device for assembling brooms into bundles comprising a base, aclamping-plate removably mounted thereon, a plurality ofvertically-disposed needles having enlarged bases seated incorresponding recesses in said clam ping-plate, said bases and saidrecesses having corresponding inclined sides.

2. A device for assembling brooms into bundles comprising a base, aclamping-plate removably mounted thereon, a plurality ofvertically-disposed needles removably mounted in said clamping-plate,said needles having enlarged bases of the contour of the frustum of apyramid, said bases being seated in recesses of corresponding contour insaid clampingplate.

A device for assembling brooms into bundles comprising a base-plate, aclamping-plate removably mounted thereupon, a plurality ofvertically-disposed needles removably mounted in said base-plate, saidneedles being formed with bases of the contour of the frustum of apyramid, said base-plate having openings of corresponding contour toaccommodate the bases of the needles, one of said openings being ofgreater length than the needle-base corresponding thereto to permit of alateral adjustment of the needle-base therein, the said needle-basebeing formed with a lateral extension, the said base-plate being formedwith a slot adjacent said greater opening to receive said extension, avertical threaded stud mounted upon said extension, a pair ofguide-plates mounted upon said base plate, said guideplatcs beingoppositely disposed on each side of said stud and overlapping said slot,an we tension seated therein and a thumb-nut carried by said stud andbearing upon said guideplates.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in the presence of twowitnesses.

ALEXANDER POWER LONGDON.

Vitnesses:

FRANoIs L. EYLES, \V. C. LANIER.

